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Advice for Teachers

Hello,

I am currently in my first year as a part-time ESL teacher in various public schools in Pennsylvania. I'm getting a lot of questions from content teachers about assessing Level 1 language learners, and I'm struggling with practical advice to give them. I've had coursework on designing both language and content objectives and ensuring language learners are still able to access the content despite language barriers. Designing assessments for Level 1 learners is complicated and has to reflect modified instruction as well, and I'm struggling with how to communicate this to teachers who have limited experience with EL's in their classrooms. I provide all teachers with WIDA can-do descriptors for the students in their classes as well as SDAIE strategies for working with EL's, but maybe there are other resources I should be offering.

Re: Advice for Teachers

I'd like to help but I can understand hardly anything about the situation you're in.

Originally Posted by ohepler

I am currently in my first year as a part-time ESL teacher in various public schools in Pennsylvania. I'm getting a lot of questions from content teachers about assessing Level 1 language learners, and I'm struggling with practical advice to give them.

1) What's a content teacher? An ESL teacher or a teacher of another subject?
2) Why are these teachers asking you about this?
3) What is it exactly they want to know about assessing learners?
4) How is it they don't know how to do this? They're teachers.

I've had coursework on designing both language and content objectives and ensuring language learners are still able to access the content despite language barriers.

I don't understand what that means. Are you talking about course planning or assessing?

Designing assessments for Level 1 learners is complicated and has to reflect modified instruction as well

What's modified instruction?

I provide all teachers with WIDA can-do descriptors for the students in their classes as well as SDAIE strategies for working with EL's, but maybe there are other resources I should be offering.

Yes, that's exactly right. Use can-do descriptors. That's all you need. The skill is in working with them.

I still don't really understand how a group of teachers cannot know the basics of teaching. Do you not have a head of department, or director, or somebody whose job is to tell you what to do?